Linda's Baby

P. K. J. Smits introduced Linda's Baby in the Netherlands in 2004, and it became one of those quiet varieties that flower farmers pass between each other like a tip. The color does the selling, a pink with strawberry and orange sherbet tones that reads romantic in soft light and fresh in bright sun, and the earliness does the rest, since a ball that starts producing ahead of the pack carries a farm's first bouquets of the season. Idlewild also flags it as an excellent seed setter, so it shows up in breeding rows as a parent. Demand is steady rather than frenzied. Idlewild has sold out of it, but it circulates widely enough across the trade that patience usually wins.

Linda's Baby grows to about 48 inches and produces 3.5 to 4 inch ball blooms. Idlewild reports an early producer that stays reliable through the season and an excellent seed setter, which makes it a favorite of breeders as well as cut flower growers. Stems and habit are standard for a good ball, with no documented vices in our sources. The classification wobbles a little in the trade. Idlewild records ADS class 6004, a ball, while other sellers market it as a miniature ball at around 4 inches, so listings disagree on which shelf it sits on. Pinch at 8 to 12 inches, stake normally, and lift tubers in cold zones. It suits production farms that need early color, and anyone working the warm peachy pink range that bridges palettes which usually fight each other.